Kicking Ass With A Fist The Size Of Your Torso

Without a doubt on of the best NES games of all-time and a personal favorite of mine is Battletoads. Produced by Rare Software in 1991 the game certainly rivaled TMNT but was in my opinion better. This is not only because of the surfy intro music with a punk rock beat and crazy punching sound effects when the game is paused, but because to this day I find it to be a truly challenging and fun game. Every level is completely different in gameplay, from the 3-D first level, swinging down the "wookie hole", the later, more difficult 2-D levels and dodging obstacles while surfing and hovercrafting in the chasm. Another thing I have always loved about the game the "cartoon" aspect of it. The exaggerated features of the character animation simply make the game more entertaining. It is one of the better developed games of it's time. This was around the time Nintendo was making the jump to the SNES, where someone had the great idea to take two classic games in Battletoads and Double Dragon, combine them and make a really crappy game.


As far as tips and tricks for the game I honestly can't offer a whole lot. I still am not all that great at it. In the second level, the impact crater or "wookie hole", hit the birds repeatedly against the walls as they fall. Each hit gives you an increasing number of points and after several hits a 1up. Of course these will be crucial in beating future levels which I would describe as "harder than hell." Also use the warps unless you are a badass and don't use warps.

In the mid to later levels of the game like the Snake Pit and Gargantua Ducts there are a shit tone of spikes that kill you instantly which unless you are an expert makes continuing inevitable. (Why do spikes always mean instant death?) I don't mean to discourage you from playing but honestly, that isn't even the hard part yet. Just play the damn game! Once you discover or rediscover it you will realize it is the best NES game ever made...or at least in the top ten.